The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that it had pushed Russian forces back by about 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) on part of the Sumy front in northern Ukraine.

Days before the leaders of Russia and the U.S. hold a summit meeting in Alaska, Moscow’s forces breached Ukrainian lines in a series of infiltrations this week in the country’s industrial heartland of Donetsk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not expected to attend. While Trump and Putin negotiate Kyiv's future, the Ukrainians will be absent. Trump said Wednesday that a potential second summit bringing Putin and Zelenskyy together is possible after the Alaska event.